How Meghan McCain's Opinion On Kamala Harris Has Changed Over The Years

Kamala Harris, Vice President under President Joe Biden, and Meghan McCain, political commentator, writer, and daughter of the late Senator John McCain, are two household names where it comes to women involved in American politics. And while the two have always been on opposite sides of the aisle, with Harris being a Democrat and McCain a Republican, it hasn't always meant that there was animosity between them.

In fact, back in 2019, Meghan McCain was singing the praises of Kamala Harris with utmost sincerity. When asked who she thought should become the first woman president, McCain at first suggested she liked former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for the job, but then immediately went on to tell the hosts of "Watch What Happens Live" that she thought Kamala Harris could also make history that way, saying that Kamala had recently appeared on "The View," where McCain had the opportunity to speak with her. McCain admitted she had not expected to be so "impressed" with Harris, but said that she appreciated how Kamala was able to make her points without "demonizing" Republicans or people who vote for them. 

Over time, however, McCain's opinion of Harris has changed drastically, and certainly not for the better. 

While Meghan McCain seemed to like Kamala Harris back in 2019, by 2021, things had soured. In her column for The Daily Mail, McCain stated, in no uncertain terms, that Harris was "failing to rise to the occasion and the opportunity of her office," which, at the time, was the office of the Vice Presidency. 

McCain even went so far as to say in her piece for The Daily Mail that a New York Times article which had reported Harris privately confiding to her allies that "the news coverage of her would be different if she were any of her 48 predecessors, all of whom were white and male" made McCain "almost spit out [her] coffee" due to the ludicrousness of the claim. Instead, McCain argued that it was precisely her gender and ethnicity that had given Harris a leg up when running on the Democratic ticket with Joe Biden.  

Also in 2021, McCain took offense to a tribute that Harris paid to Meghan's father, the late Senator John McCain. At the time, Harris had gone to the cemetery where John McCain is interred to pay her respects on the third anniversary of the war hero's passing. But Meghan wasn't impressed, tweeting, "If you want to honor my dads legacy on this anniversary of his death — you would spend every second making sure every single American and Afghan ally is out of harms way," referring to the American military's exit from Afghanistan.  

By early 2024, Meghan McCain's criticisms of Kamala Harris had become even harsher. On an episode of her podcast "Meghan McCain Has Entered The Chat," McCain had strong words about Vice President Kamala Harris, and her thoughts shocked many, rapidly being reported by countless news outlets and discussed across social media. Concerning Harris' performance in the second-highest position in the country, McCain said that Harris was singlehandedly "setting feminism back 10 years." 

McCain also said, "Vice President Harris has proven to me that maybe a woman can't be Vice President." While we doubt McCain truly believes a woman cannot serve in the highest offices of the land, this statement makes it clear just how little she thinks of the track record of Harris' time as VP. McCain claimed that Harris was "really unserious" and, citing a speech the Vice President gave in 2022 about the way time passes, said that Harris has portrayed herself like "a 19-year-old stoner in college who's high at 3 a.m." 

McCain also said she has a "very strong adverse reaction" to Harris, but claimed to her audience that the reason had nothing to do with sexism or race.